TOLLREGION OSLO OG AKERSHUS

Their core work

Tollregion Oslo og Akershus is a regional customs authority covering the Oslo and Akershus area of Norway, responsible for border enforcement, customs inspections, and interdicting smuggled or illegal goods entering the country. In EU research projects, they act as an operational end-user and practitioner, bringing live customs workflows and real enforcement scenarios to technology development and cross-border policy initiatives. Their participation in scanning technology research (MESMERISE) and practitioner network building (PEN-CP) shows they contribute ground-level expertise — what actually works at a border crossing — rather than academic or engineering knowledge. For project consortia, they are a validation partner: they test whether solutions work in the field and co-develop requirements grounded in daily customs operations.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project (MESMERISE, 2016–2019) placed them in a hardware and sensor technology context — contributing end-user requirements and field testing for physical scanning systems designed to detect concealed contraband. By 2018, their engagement shifted toward the practitioner community layer: PEN-CP is a long-running (2018–2025) network focused on knowledge sharing, co-development, and collective response to organised crime and supply chain threats. This suggests a move from technology validation toward institutional collaboration and operational doctrine — from "does this scanner work?" to "how do customs services across Europe share intelligence and develop practice together?"

Tollregion appears to be deepening its role as an operational voice in pan-European customs policy and practitioner communities rather than pursuing hardware or technology projects, making them a relevant partner for governance, training, or inter-agency coordination initiatives in border security.

How they like to work

Tollregion has never led an H2020 project — they participate exclusively as operational partners, which is typical for a public enforcement authority whose value lies in access to real border scenarios rather than research capacity. Despite only two projects, they have engaged with 31 distinct consortium partners across 18 countries, suggesting they join large, multi-actor consortia where their practitioner credentials anchor the applied dimension. Working with them means gaining a credible end-user who can validate technologies and methods against real customs operations, but do not expect them to drive project management or research outputs.

With 31 unique partners across 18 countries from just two projects, Tollregion has a surprisingly broad European footprint for a regional customs body — likely reflecting the large, multi-country consortia typical of H2020 Security pillar projects. Their network spans law enforcement agencies, technology developers, and customs authorities across the EU and associated countries.

What sets them apart

Tollregion Oslo og Akershus is one of the few Norwegian customs authorities with direct H2020 participation, giving them credibility as an end-user partner specifically for projects that need Scandinavian or Nordic border enforcement representation. Unlike university or research institute partners, they offer access to live operational environments — real freight, real interdiction challenges, real smuggling patterns — which is difficult to replicate in a lab setting. For consortia building a security project that must demonstrate operational validation by a practicing authority, they fill a role that most partners cannot.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MESMERISE
  A technology-development project for multi-energy scanning of concealed commodities — Tollregion's involvement as an end-user customs authority gave the research direct grounding in operational field conditions at a real border crossing.
• PEN-CP
  A long-running (2018–2025) pan-European network of customs practitioners focused on co-developing responses to organised crime and supply chain threats — Tollregion's longest and most operationally aligned project.